Boss on league challenge

Following the release of the Sky Bet Championship fixtures last Wednesday, Royals boss Steve Clarke is looking forward to the new campaign getting underway.

Reading will begin with a trip to Birmingham City, before travelling to Colchester United in the Capital One Cup the following midweek. Leeds United will then be the first visitors to Madejski Stadium and the manager is excited about 2015/16 starting.

“The league fixtures are the bread and butter, the grind,” he said. “You start to look at them and you start to think which ones are we going to get our points from? Points from that game, points from that game, every game looks difficult.

“The Championship is a league that I learned a lot about last year. Every game you can look at and it will be a difficult game, but I’m quite confident that the points will come as and when we need them next season.

“The Capital One Cup draw was released the day before - we had a little taste of Wembley last year - and it seems long way away at the moment but this is the first stop on the road to Wembley again.

“It’s going to be difficult game away at Colchester. We’ve got everything to lose but that’s what cup football is all about.”

There will be a few changes to the makeup of the Royals from next term with changes both on and off the pitch.

Clarke said: “We have lost some good people that have worked for the club for a number of years, both on the staff and playing sides. This is what happens at football clubs and in business, you have to try and change things as you go along.

“You always have to assess and sometimes some difficult decisions have to be made. It’s not always easy to make those decisions; there was certainly a period of the summer that wasn’t very nice but you move on and we are looking to turn this ship around and get going in the right direction again.

“The size of the job, when I came in, I probably underestimated a little bit. It’s a big challenge to turn the club around and get us going in the right direction again.